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Monthly Archives: August 2014

On August 31 2006, Madonna played the fourth of four sold-out dates at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy-Paris during her Confessions Tour. The show played to nearly 68,000 fans at the venue during its tour run.

Madonna has become quite familiar with the Palais Omnisports over the years, having played a combined total of 19 sold-out concerts at the venue between 1990 and 2009 for roughly 320,000 fans.

The venue was also used to film two of her shows – 1990’s Blond Ambition Tour and 2004’s Re-Invention Tour. Ironically, both films were used as part of documentaries – Truth or Dare and I’m Going To Tell You A Secret respectively. Since both documentaries focused equally on behind-the-scenes and on-stage content, only select performances could be featured in each. The complete shows for both tours filmed at the venue remain unreleased, much to the bewilderment of fans.

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On August 30 2012, “Turn Up The Radio” jumped to the top position on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Chart, earning her a record-extending 43rd number-one single on the chart.

Marking a sign of the times, the single and remixes were sold exclusively to digital retailers and were sadly not given a physical release on any format (aside from scarce promotional copies), in any country. This was the first time in Madonna’s career that an international commercial single was unavailable to record shops and collectors either through domestic distribution or as an import.

We hope that Interscope realizes that there are many old-school Madonna fans who still enjoy collecting physical releases – and we’re willing to pay for them. So what will it be Interscope? Would you like to earn some extra bucks with the singles from Madonna’s next album, or are you going to leave collectors with padded pockets?

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On August 29 1989, the music video for “Cherish” – the third single from the album Like A Prayer – premiered in Canada.

The song was written by Madonna & Patrick Leonard and was one of the first tracks completed for the album. Madonna had been reading Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet during breaks from rehearsals for the play Speed The Plow, which inspired the lyrics for the song.

The video was filmed on July 22, 1989 at Paradise Cove Beach in Malibu, California. It marked the first time that late photographer Herb Ritts had crossed over to shooting and directing a music video, which he agreed to do reluctantly at Madonna’s insistence. He quickly became a highly sought-after music video director, winning numerous awards for his work within the medium.

“Cherish” hit the top of the charts in Canada on October 9th, spending two weeks at number-one. It went on to become the ninth best-selling single of the year with a total of seventeen weeks on the RPM Singles chart.

While no maxi-single was issued for “Cherish” in North America, the single included the previously unreleased Like A Prayer outtake “Supernatural” – another collaboration with Patrick Leonard.

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On August 28 2003, Madonna performed “Hollywood” with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as the opening number for the 20th annual MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY and upstaged everyone at the ceremony when she shares a passionate open-mouth kiss with them. Missy Elliott also joined the ladies on stage – post-kiss.

Madonna commented on the uproar surrounding the infamous kiss during an appearance on Oprah several weeks later. “I don’t know why people are making such a big deal about it,” she said. “Hasn’t anyone seen two girls kiss before? It was a friendly kiss – it really was. If Britney looks as though she is kissing me in an aggressive way it was a surprise to me.” She added, “I’m a showgirl. After 20 years in the business, we learn to roll with the punches. If someone’s coming at you with lips slightly parted, you kiss them.”

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On August 26 2001, Madonna Live! Drowned World Tour 2001 was broadcast live on HBO and The Movie Network in Canada from The Palace Of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI. It was seen by 5.7 million viewers – the network’s third highest rated prime-time concert special since 1997.

The broadcast marked the second time Madonna had selected her hometown as a location to record one of her shows, the first being The Virgin Tour home video/laserdisc release, filmed in 1985 at Cobo Arena in Detroit.

With the Drowned World Tour itinerary not including any dates in Canada, many Canadian fans who purchased tickets for one of the two shows in Detroit were pleasantly surprised when it was announced that the second show would be broadcast live in both countries. Madonna’s previous HBO specials for the Blond Ambition and Girlie Show tours did not receive a live broadcast in Canada, although the latter did air on MuchMusic at a later date.

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On August 25 1987, “Causing a Commotion” was released as the second single from the soundtrack album “Who’s That Girl“, by Sire Records. “Causing a Commotion” was written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray, the song was inspired by Madonna’s relationship with then husband Sean Penn, and his abusive and violent nature.